Insurance question --Those with modifications, please chime in

[Jmanlevan]

Isnt it a doubled edge sword tho, if your typical insurance company know you had modifications to your car wouldn't that raise your rate compared to if the vehicle was assumed stock?

Why would modifications raise the rate?

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[swrdply400mrelay]

I have agreed value insurance through Hagerty.

How did you do that? I went thru their online quote and they rejected me.

 

[swrdply400mrelay]

Why would modifications raise the rate?

Some insurance companies perceive modifications with more power to be more risky. Also if you're looking to get reimbursed the value of the modifications in case of an accident, then your total value of the car is increased, thus increasing the premium.

 

[Jmanlevan]

Some insurance companies perceive modifications with more power to be more risky. Also if you're looking to get reimbursed the value of the modifications in case of an accident, then your total value of the car is increased, thus increasing the premium.

Who said anything about more power, my mods are just for sound (damn locked ECU lol) the rest of my mods are visual

 

[Vypurr]

How did you do that? I went thru their online quote and they rejected me.

Not sure why they rejected you, but I also have an agreed value through hagerty and it costs me a fraction of what I was paying to liberty mutual for lesser coverage.

 

[Mason]

I can’t find an affordable option covering mods being under the age of 26. I’m 25k at risk every drive

 

[DarkZupra]

How did you do that? I went thru their online quote and they rejected me.

You probably drive the car too much. They typically only insure 5k miles a year or less.

 

[AHP]

I use Grundy for agreed value coverage for all of my worthwhile cars. They've never asked about mods, HP, or even mileage and have never questioned the value I assigned. All they've required is a few pictures. They do have stringent qualification requirements, though. Technically it is a limited use policy; how specific they are on that seems to depend on the state.

Thankfully I've never had a claim, but a friend of mine had a total loss and they paid out the full value with no BS.

 

[jchadwell]

I’d have to look to get the exact amount but my Nationwide policy includes something like $1500 or maybe it was $2500 in customization coverage. That’s plenty for me since my only mods I couldn’t or wouldn’t want to remove are cheap. I can always remove the MST, DP, JB4, Blitz, and Camber plates to recoup a little by selling them. My cosmetic changes are well under $1500…

 

[2021Supra]

I would think that most reputable insurance companies offer an additional dollar amount to cover your current modifications. I took out an additional policy for 15K thorough Progressive. Its pennies on the dollars. Just save the receipts for their audit purposes on why they paid so much more over the average retail at the time of an accident. This is what they told me to do, so I have all of mine in a separate email folder. Question is that I am unclear on: Will they cover tuning expenses??? Has anyone asked this to their insurance company?

 

[VinDiesell]

For Geico, you would need all your receipts and you get like 5% back

 

[razorlab]

For Geico, you would need all your receipts and you get like 5% back

F Geico. As an FYI: https://www.supramkv.com/threads/stay-away-from-geico.17738/

 

[Mimosa]

@Mimosa You had a shit ton of work done to your Supra. What was your experience after it got totaled?

Pretty straight forward. Had my car taken to the body shop I always used and they sent a n adjuster that specialized in modified and exotic cars. They used the spreadsheet I provided with the receipts and list of upgraded parts and looked at everything. They even included things I didn't list like my titanium hardware and certain CF trim that I didn't think mattered. Then the report was sent up to USAA and that was it. It did take some time... I think it was about a month or 2.

The other person's insurance company was only going to cover the car at MSRP, but USAA handled it and cut me a 6 figure check.

 

[Jmanlevan]

Pretty straight forward. Had my car taken to the body shop I always used and they sent a n adjuster that specialized in modified and exotic cars. They used the spreadsheet I provided with the receipts and list of upgraded parts and looked at everything. They even included things I didn't list like my titanium hardware and certain CF trim that I didn't think mattered. Then the report was sent up to USAA and that was it. It did take some time... I think it was about a month or 2.

The other person's insurance company was only going to cover the car at MSRP, but USAA handled it and cut me a 6 figure check.

Damn that's awesome. Glad to hear it worked out for you. You had so much put into that build and the level of detail was amazing. If the other insurance company only covered the car at MSRP, that would have been a crime! Considering you got a 6 figure check, would you say you got your full cost of mods back? If not, what percentage would you estimate you got back? I'm sitting at about $20k into my supra so I am starting to stress about losing my ass in that stuff if the car were to be involved in an accident, which is why I posed this question to my insurance agent last week.

 

[Jmanlevan]

I just had a policy review with State Farm. When talking to my agent, I asked about what would happen if my car was involved in an accident. Obviously there would be an estimate for the damage and a determination on if the car would be repaired or totaled.

If the car is totaled, they would pay me for the fair market value of the car at the time of the accident. But what happens when you have aftermarket parts and accessories put into the car? According to my agent, they would only account for a similar make/model/trim at stock configuration and value and the aftermarket upgrades would be a total loss and according to him, don't add any value to the car from an insurance perspective.

Surely there has to be a way to furnish proof of parts installed on the car and a way to get SOME of that money back. I wouldn't expect to get full value for aftermarket parts, but I would expect a percentage.

Say there is $20,000 put into the car. I would expect to get an offer of, for simple math and conversations sake, $0.25 on the dollar for all upgrades.---in this case, $5,000.

There are people that put more money into their cars than the actual purchase price of the vehicle. When these cars are involved in a crash, are all of those modifications just a total loss? If this is the case, why would anybody modify their vehicle to the nines? To me, if somebody has a $50,000 car and they put $100,000 into it (as some people do) and insurance says, yeah we are only going to give you $40,000 for it I would be raising all hell.

My agent is going to speak with underwriting to answer my question on this, but until I get an answer back, I'm curious what others have to say about it.

Those of you who have been involved in accidents with your modified Supra's or other crashed modified cars in the past, What was your experience?

heres the reply I just got back from my State Farm agent:

"Good morning Jordan, here is the response I received from auto underwriting in regards to upgrades and modifications on vehicles they stated that Equipment that is fixed onto the vehicle would be covered but there is sort of endorsement to the policy or anything to guarantee the value of those upgrades or modifications. In the event of a claim the insured would want to keep receipts/pictures to support the extra value they are seeking. I would take before and after images of the vehicle and the modifications as well as save the receipts to support the extra value."

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